Cisco Systems to buy Cloupia

Silicon Valley’s inexorable march to the cloud – where data is managed from Internet-based servers – quickened Thursday with Cisco Systems’ announcement that the San Jose networking giant is buying Cloupia.

The Santa Clara software company’s technology helps companies control their data from a single computer screen.

“The acquisition reflects the growing importance of automation/management capabilities as the industry gradually moves to software-defined datacenters,” concluded Brian Marshall, an analyst with the ISI Group in a note to his clients.

Cisco said it “will pay approximately $125 million “in cash and retention-based incentives in exchange for all shares of Cloupia.” The deal is expected to be completed in the second quarter next year.